The Fun Zone (Social): zone in which one appears to be enjoying himself.
This is distinguished from an actual fun zone because there are earmarks of stress, enforced reality, asserted communications and a sense that the ACTUAL affinity of the being involved is a few light years distant from the scene.
The Fun Zone (Actual): zone in which the interchange of perception and action is bringing about an emotional level of high cheer, enthusiasm, high action, humor, creativity and possibly serenity. The earmarks of the genuine fun zone as distinguished from the social fun zone are a personal sense of expansion, a high degree of live communication (whether spoken or simply experienced), a sense of increased awareness of reality, and a feeling of overcoming some sort of obstacle(s) toward a goal, whether these things are articulated or not. When these conditions are present (they induce each other) real pleasure occurs.
The Slow Zone : This is a territory in which caution is being exerted in order to comply with certain controls or to appease certain powers or prevent certain bad events. It has the feel of walking on ice in leather shoes -- you are aware that you could go much faster but are afraid to do so. It sometimes includes flavors of distrust of one's native rightness or speed of comprehension, or the belief that one has to cope with someone else who is oppressive, suppressive, or just dazed. Occasionally the slow zone is found in the presence of the belief that not much is occurring. This of course is only as true as the observer makes it, since his own existence is going on at a very high clock speed indeed. But he can paint himself as an object within a machine and then get bored because the machine is not bringing him enough entertainment.
The Combat Zone: Not as bad as it might sound, this is a zone in which one is taking up arms against the normal sea of hassles and taking action to end them. It can include argumentation, stress, encouragement toward winning, the effort to knock down opposition or leap over it, or to reduce it through force. It is not as enjoyable (to some) as the Fun Zone but to others it is the highest state attainable in human life. Those whose hearts live here walk about at the ready like jungle fighters on patrol; they are eternally vigilant for the need to combat.
The Psycho Zone: This is the territory normally occupied by fanatics who have been kicked out of the combat zone. It has red rage as its favorite theme, and involves the uncaring and undifferentiated impulse to destroy others, or self, or the environment, preferably explosively. It is not a zone where much creative can be accomplished but is good to be familiar with the territory. It is not unusual for a human being to pretend, while in this zone, that he is not in it at all. This makes it difficult for him or her to get out of it, and therefore he usually drops from it into an even unhealthier state. The climate leaves characteristic red patterns on human faces, and sometimes throbbing temples. Chronic fantasies of destruction, and the belief that one is NOT even and has to GET even, usually be destroying something, are typical of zone residents.
The Secret Destruction Zone: This territory is also known as Slimeball City, or the Zone of Hidden Psychosis. This is the heart country for those too weak to express their actual feelings (usually because of fear), while actually feeling like wiping out everyone so they can finally be left alone. This is the territory of the friendly neighborhood drug-dealer who tells you he is providing an important social service, of the guy in the raincoat with nothing on under it, of the caring and concerned minister who gives the kids Sex Ed in the cloakroom, and of those cutely human monsters whose contribution to society is the slimy double-cross, the hidden undermine, the gossip-line express, and the beautifully, elegantly, charmingly rationalized insanity being promoted as a new and wonderful outlook. Beings of this caliber often like to flock around any new fountain of sanity, constructive progress, artistic creativity or genuine flourishing of life-force, in order to organize it to death or make sure it doesn't survive long enough to strengthen anyone, perish the thought!
Panicville and Tears Town These are two communities tight next to each other on the psychic map. Residents of Panicville are frequently found moving to the other side of the tracks into Tears Town as they discover how useless it is to flee. Residents of Tears Town generally give up on fleeing but occasionally try to make the world go away by demonstrating how harmed they are already, collapsing in victimized puddles in the hopes no one will find them good enough to eat, and peeing in their pants on the off chance that it will make them smell bad enough to discourage carnivores.
Hopeless City The interior architecture in this zone is all black. There is one certainty which dominates all dialog: we have already lost. It is merely fantasy to have any hope that anything could be done about something, and the dream of success in any line of endeavor is constantly deflected by hard-earned, life-destroying "wisdom" which explains in earnest bell-like tones why we should understand how silly such ideas are in the face of hopeless "reality". Here the soul has capitulated to the endless condensation and solidification of its material environment, taking on finally all the traits that make matter so solid, complacent, inertial, and unoriginal. Residents of this sector are frequently found on counseling missions aimed at discouraging those who would like to change things for the better, hoping to bring them to the enlightened understanding that all is best left exactly as it is because really nothing ever changes anyway and if it did it would be worse.